Traction attachment for automobiles



TRAGTIDN ATTACHMEN? FDR AUTOMUBLES.

APPLxcATIoN mio APn.,1919.

. f-. Patented Aug. 10, 1920.

Irl, 5

JOSEPH o. Mook, or KANKAKEE, ILLrNors.

TBACTION ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMQBILES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug'. 10, 1920.

Application led April 7, 1919. Serial No. 288,127.

To all whom it may Concern Be it known that I. los-ern 0. Moon, a citizen of the llnited States. residing at Kankakee, in the county of Kankakee and State of Illinois. have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Traction Attachments for Automobiles. of which the following is a full, clear. concise. and exact description. reference being had to the accompanying drawings. formingn a part of this specification.

My -invention relates to attachments for wheels of self-propelled vehicles. and has for its general object theI provision of a simple and inexpensive attachment which can be easily and quickly applied to the wheels for the purpose of increasing the traction power thereof in emergencies.

lt is a common occurrence for the wheels of an automobile to become mired in a mud hole in traveling over bad roads or soft ground, notwithstanding r the fact that they may be equipped with chains or other antiH skid devices which function-properly on dry @round but which have no grip in soft mud. To take care of this emergency. several attempts have been made to provide a wheel attachment which will give to the wheel enough traction power to enable the vehicle to propel itself out of the depression, but so far as I am aware, these attempts have failed because of faulty conformation given to the attachment.

The successful operation of my device I attribute to the use of several relatively lon ground-engaging projections or lugs whic i are carried by the attachment or shoe arranged to be clamped to the vehicle wheel.

Afurther object of my invention resides in the provision of simple and effective means for lockingr the attachment in place on the vehicle wheel.

These and other objects of my invention willbe pointed out in detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational View showing the attachment of my invention applied to a vehicle wheel, the shoe being shown partly in section to more clearly reveal its construction; and

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of Fig. 1, taken along the line 2-2 and looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Similar characters/of reference refer to similar parts in the views.

Referring first to Fig. 1, 3 designates a vehicln wheel which may be of any type and which comprises the felly if. spokes 5,

and tire G. Arranged for attachment on the periphery of the vehicle wheel is the trac tion attachment T. which comprises a shoe 8 arranged to he held in place ou the vehicle wheel by the [iexible elements 9 and 10, one disposed at each end ot' the shoe 8. The inner face 10 of the shoe is longitullinally grooved. as most clearly shown in Fig. 2, to receive the vehicle tirc. and assumes the, shape of an arc, such that it may snugly Fit the vehicle tire. The outer face 1t of the shoe is preferably formal eoraentric with the inner face. llxtending from the outer face of the shoe are tour relatively long ground-engaging lugs or projections 12, 12, each ot which extends laterally substantially the entire width of the shoe.

Each of the flexible locking elements 9 and 10 comprises a chain 13 having a point intermediate its ends attached to the outa-r face 11 of the Shoe by a rivet or other suit able means 14. One end of the chain is con nected by a link 15 to a locking;r lever 16, the. connection between the link and lockiiu` lever being afforded b v the pivot pin 17. Carried b v the lotking level' i6. and at the end thereof. opposite the finger piece 19. is a pivot pin 19 arranged for engagement with any one ot' several notches formed in the locking plate 20. attached to the opposite end of the chain 153 at :21. The end of the locking plate :20, attached to the chain. car ries a hooked projection :22 arranged to receive any one of several links of the chain. so that the effective length of the chain may be varied to suit the particular Wheel to which the attachment of my invention is to be clamped.

The lever 16 when locked is held in this position by reason of the fact that the pivot pin 17 lies inside of the pivot pin 19. Vith this arrangement. there is a tendency to move the locking lever 113 in a clockwise direction (Fig. 2), and thus to maint-ain it in its locked position. Attention is directed to the fact that no strain is placed upon the rivet l-l, which holds the chain to the traci tion shoe, because, the chain extends entirely around the shoe and thus places all of the clamping stress on the outer face thereof. The several groundengaging projections 12, 12 are spaced far enough apart so as to prevent the accumulation of dirt and mud between the projections, which would thereby runder th(l :ittiii'hmmlt inufeutive. U11 thil other hainih the projections :irc spilci'il in i-iosv Cimiigh l'eizii'irili .so that thi,-y wheui muy obtain proper' tmvtiou to pm'mit the vciiii-iu tu [i1-opel itsvii.' from the: iicprusimi.

iihmigfh thiI iievimr iii' my ixiwxiiiiiiii is iiiivniiiii primzil'ii)i miiy i() im iiswi whom, the i'i-hifiu i# mired ifi :i miulhuiu itY um, mi" mui-sv, he used igoiitiiiuziiiy whvru the :iii- Limmiiih is re-quirii to pum: ovm' n wml Miiivh is [myth-niark' nmrhy nml .suit ifm @i i'wiiiiihi'zliih iiistiiiiii.

ii;i\i1i;1fihii:-` fhwriimi my iiiwntiiiii. what i vimini :is now :mii (iesilii tu sociii'ii by Lietviv@ Patent 0f thu nitifii Studer; is

Thu rmubimitinn with ai ti'miimi element for u vehicle wi'ieeh of liluim fm* Securing mid Iriivtiim element to u wheel, wmprisinp; a imking plate having :i honk fm'mmi mi jiwvnt one emi and a plurality of spaced notches inrmed inl'igituiinziliy thereof, a, locking lever having :i transverse projvction :iiijzif'ex'it miv @mi for adjustable ungziguuwnt with sziiii muli-inw, :imi :i chain thv lilik4 :il mw onli ni' hir-h mini ,:iiiliilwinliiy mig'ziigjiii with said hunk, thvy othil' Omi iii' Siiiii ifhiiiii living' mme-(funi with suiii hiwiiiiig; imm' iii-- ii'ei'ixiiiiiutu the omis 'ihm'milY` [iw miti-hw of' .mili imkiiig pinto iivizig .sjizii'oii :ipurt ii iistnllife less ihaili [hv hfng'th uf' thi` iiliiis mi' sziiii chain.

Yin witness whe-rmi I ,hereunto silblsizriiii my mime this 2id (luy of prii, 1919.

JOSEPH i). MOOR.

VWitiieb S' E. SfIx-mzINGEiL, G. E. HILSMANN. 

